00:00When breaking news happens, you know we do have you covered here. We do want to go out right now.
00:05Senator Kim from New Jersey speaking at the State Department after the layoffs of more than
00:121,300 employees. Let's listen in.
00:16Department official to be able to stand alongside you and fight for what it is that we were willing
00:21to put our lives on the line for, what we were willing to do to be able to serve this country.
00:25I still believe in the State Department, and I know you do too. So let's go out there and protect it.
00:30Thanks, everyone.
00:40Wow. What a powerful bunch of speakers we have. I want to see something. How many people here have
00:46ever worked at the State Department? And how many people here got laid off today? All right. All
00:54right. Thank you for being here. You could be going home or crying in a bar, but you're here
00:59with your colleagues, and we appreciate that. And I want to say nobody gets to tell you whether
01:04you're a public servant or not. You know you're a public servant, and I hope you will continue
01:09to be public servants.
01:12Speaking of lifelong public servants, I want to introduce Enrique Roig. Enrique is currently
01:18the Director of Policy at the Seattle International Foundation and former Deputy Assistant Secretary
01:24in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor here at the State Department.
01:33Can everybody hear me? Thank you, Senator Van Hollen and Senator Kim, for being with us today to show
01:39solidarity. And I wish, you know, it's good to see so many friends and colleagues. Obviously,
01:44I wish it was under different circumstances today. I, of course, had to be here to show my own
01:49solidarity and appreciation for all of you, the dedicated State Department employees,
01:54people who have spent their careers protecting American interests, who are now being arbitrarily
02:00fired, not for failing to do your jobs or because we don't need you, but because of what office
02:06you happen to be in at this moment. So let me be clear. That's not reform. That's sabotage.
02:13And who is leading this charge? Yes, Secretary Rubio. And by the way, where is he today?
02:23Where is he? He couldn't even be bothered to show some leadership and empathy for all of you
02:28being fired. Where is Marco? Marco, where are you? Where is Marco? Marco Polo. Where is Marco?
02:36Marco Polo. Where is Marco Polo? This is the same person who never stops talking about threats from
02:43Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, and China. But here's the thing, friends. You can't claim to
02:51defend democracy while you're defunding the department that actually defends it. You can't
02:57talk tough on authoritarian regimes and then fire the very people who've spent their entire
03:03careers standing up to them. This isn't about performance or values. It's about politics
03:09and the cost is enormous. Meanwhile, China and Russia are filling the void. This is not
03:15just bad policies. This is malpractice. And I know that at the same time, this has very personal
03:21implications for all of you. After having lived and worked in high threat post, sacrifice, time
03:28with family and live through hardship after hardship, you're now being fired. That means
03:34facing economic uncertainty, losing health care, and figuring out child care costs and
03:38how to cover rent and your mortgage. And so, friends, what message does that send? That if
03:44you serve your country too well for too long, you're expendable? This is the exact opposite of
03:50how we treat soldiers. When the army closes a base, they reassign the troops. They don't fire
03:55them. But that's exactly what's happening here. We're throwing away decades of investment
04:00and experience. We're turning our back on people who have risked their lives for the American
04:05flag. And for what? To satisfy a political agenda.
04:11So this isn't just about saving jobs. It's about saving what those jobs represent.
04:17All of you here today, pushed out, have advanced American interests around the world under Democratic
04:22and Republican presidents alike. You are patriots.
04:27And the fact
04:28And the fact that you are being dismissed with zero regard for the law, for veterans protections,
04:39or for common decency, it should outrage every single American.
04:42So let's be very clear. This is not how a serious country treats its civil servants and
04:50foreign service officers. This is not how a confident superpower defends its values.
04:57And this is not how we win the future.
05:00So I'm standing here today, not just in defense of you, but in defense of the America that I
05:04believe in, that we all believe in, one that values service, one that plays the long game,
05:09one that doesn't hand its global leadership over to adversaries without a fight.
05:14Because when we fire our diplomats and civil servants, we fire our future.
05:20So God bless all of you and God bless America. Thank you.
05:25Thank you, Enrique. Now I'm pleased to introduce Tom Countryman.
05:34Tom is, I guess he has fans in this crowd. Tom is the former assistant secretary of state for
05:41nonproliferation. Not so fun fact about Tom. He knows what it's like to get unceremoniously
05:48fired by this administration. He was actually fired by President Trump in the first week of his
05:54first term. Tom. How's that? All of you who are here today have the most important job in
06:12America, that of citizen. So thank you for coming out to do your job.
06:18When I left this building eight years ago, it didn't hurt me. I had had a full career full of
06:29challenges. But to see people at the peak of their contribution, at the peak of their
06:36intellectual prowess, still full of patriotism and ready to do public service thrown on the street
06:43country. And multiply that by 1000. It's a dark day for an institution with one of the proudest
06:51histories in our country.
06:59I don't like to preach, but I do like to advise. And I would like to give five or six quick points
07:06for those who are going home today and not coming back on Monday. Good lessons, I hope for all of us
07:14born from my experience and that of others. Number one, take some time off. Take a walk, go visit a
07:24beautiful park, hug your children, visit an old friend. Do not obsess for at least a few weeks
07:33with what you see happening around you. Build back your mental and your physical health.
07:41Number two, do not sink into doom watching, doom scrolling or any other time of overconsumption
07:52of news. You cannot drown your distress by increasing your consumption of distressing news. It doesn't
08:01work that way. All right, everyone. That was the latest there from the State Department as many
08:08coming to the aid there of the 1,300 employees that were let go at rally happening right out in
08:16Washington, D.C.
Comments